The biggest reason why I wanted to go to Calgary was to see my new nephew, Hudson. And that little guy did not disapoint! He's soooooo cute! I totally wanted to bring him home, but it was pretty obvious that he would miss his Momma who he clearly adores. The girls and I loved on him so much. And I literally could not say goodbye to him. He's the sweetest thing and I'm so glad he's in our family! He was absolutely the best part about going to Calgary. 

As per tradition, I made Greta a birthday dress. I don't put Greta in very much pink. I've always been drawn to the primary colors and green for her. This year's dress is mostly red and I love how it turned out! I used some modern red fabric and some cute cat fabric - Greta loves cats. I used the Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress pattern and I made it in size 18-24months since their patterns always run big. It has some room for growth, but doesn't look too big so the sizing turned out just right. The dress came together really well and was easy to sew up.

I managed to squeak in some photographs for her before the party began. Greta is such a beauty!

We threw a real kids party for Greta's birthday. We did a little brunch (pancakes + fruit salad) and played games. I made cat tails for the kids to wear and we painted noses and whiskers onto their faces. We played "pin the tail on the cat" and "find the mouse" and the "hokey pokey." It was fun and cute! 

I made a sugar-free, grain-free almond-raspberry cake using healthy fats. And it tasted healthy. I wasn't totally happy with how it turned out, but oh well. Maybe our taste buds need to adjust more? I dunno! It was a fun little experiment, but I won't lie, a big, chocolate cupcake would've been much tastier! I think we'll likely do sugary birthday cakes in the future unless I find something that's good enough to be healthy and to celebrate birthdays! Always fun to try something new. 

I loved having us all sing Happy Birthday to Greta and watching her as she looked around at all the people singing to her. She looked so happy and so flattered. Greta totally crashed after her party and spent the rest of the day with post-party-blues. Oh that girl! And Holly is ready for her birthday to roll on through!

We had fun celebrating Greta's second birthday, even though she didn't really. The poor thing was grumpy all day long! I tried to make her day special and I even spent two hours at Happy Hollow after she had peed on my while sitting on my lap (it looked like I peed my own pants). Greta received lots of great gifts (thanks!). For birthday dessert, I made a rich avocado-chocolate pudding and served it with vanilla ice cream. Baby girl is growing up!

Today is Greta's second birthday. I have mixed feelings about it. Of course I'm excited that she's getting older, but I mourn the loss of her babyhood. I feel like we officially no longer have a baby in the house. 

Greta is a wonderful little girl. She's brilliant for starters. The other day she counted to eight all by herself, without being prompted. She forms full and complex sentences. She understands emotions and is more than capable to express them with words as well as with actions (tantrums, etc). She is stubborn and willful. She is tender and sweet. She is beautiful. 

Greta has required me to stretch myself as a mother. The last two years have brought me exhaustion, heartache, confusion, helplessness as well as patience, a bigger heart, and a little more understanding. There's something about Greta, her neediness perhaps, that brings a need to change to me. It's so hard to put into words what Greta means to me. She has brought me love and joy just when I needed it. She is my sweet little baby.